Adjustable sleeping garment



Sept. 29, 1959 A. STUART ETAL ADJUSTABLE SLEEPING GARMENT Filed May l, 1958 mnunlmu INVENTORS FILLFIN STUFIRT HFIROLD DRFICHMHN HTTRNEY nited States arent O ADJUSTABLE SLEEPING GARMENT Allan Stuart, Roslyn Heights, and Harold Drachman, Forest Hills, N.Y.

Application May 1, 1958, "Serial No. 732,252

1 claim.` (c1. gafas) This invention relates to childrens sleeping garments and more particularly to a sleeping garment of the footenclosing type incorporating novel constructional features Substantially increasing the useful life Qf the aarment.

v Childrens sleeping garments are usually specially constructed for warmth, generally being tailored from a napped fabric. To provide warmth for the extremities while the child is sleeping, and warmth and protection when the child is running or walking over a iioor, the garments usually have integral foot Ienclosures at the ends of the legs.

These foot enclosures generally comprise a relatively flat fabric sole section stitched to fabric of the upper sections which may be part of the garment leg or permanently attached to the latter. Since the child walks around in the garment without slippers the foot enclosures are subjected to wear and tear from contact with the iioor. To meet this condition the sole portions of the foot enclosures may be formed with rubberized bottoms.

It is generally desired that these garments be used for longer than one season. The garments are therefore purchased by parents one or two sizes too large to accommodate the relative rapid growth of the young children. As the garment is thus initially too large the legs 'will be too long and during the irst season of wear the child will be walking on the lower portion of the garment legs with the feet portions Hopp-ing around loosely. This is inconvenient to the child and an accident hazard since the child is subject to tripping and falling thereby.

In recognition of the foregoing, there have been proposed various growth features in such garments for young children. As the child during its early years grows mainly in length it is highly desirable to incorporate growth features in the legs of the garments. Various proposals have been made for accommodating growth in the legs and feet. These have all been rather complex in structure and rather costly so that the expense thereof frequently precludes purchase of such garments by parents. In addition, insufficient provision has been made for the wear and soiling of the soles of the feet enclosures. The soles are often made comparatively inflexible and rather cold to the touch.

The present invention is directed at a novel simplified foot-enclosing structure for a sleeping garment in which the aforementioned difficulties are obviated and the legs and feet of the garment are arranged to accommodate growth without the loose fitting characteristic of oversize garments and with the garment legs and feet having a conforming fit on the wearers legs and feet.

More specifically, the growth in the legs is` accommodated by providing a stitched endless pleat or cu -in the leg at the ankle of the wearer. In addition there may be provided a longitudinally elastic ribbed section in the leg at the ankle. This ribbed section may have such a length that the sole of the garments foot is supported snugly against ,the bottom of the foot of the wearer.

Patented sept. 29, 1359 Thus there is no flapping around of the feet of the garment. As the wearer grows, the longitudinal elasticity in the ribbed section will accommodate a reasonable amount of increase in length of the wearers leg. After a time when the tension in the elastic section reaches a maximum desired amount, the stitching of the pleat can be removed to impart an increased length and restore a neat comfortable iit to the garment at the legs.

A further improvement is to provide natural or artficial rubber or resin knobs or projections on the underside of the foot enclosures. These projections provide a friction-gripping means which prevent slippage in walking. By use of spaced projections, there is no substantial loss in flexibility of the -soles of the foot enclosures. The foot soles are Washable since soap suds are free to pass through the soles. This is an advantageous construction over prior sole structures in which the entire bottoms of the soles are impregnated with vinyl or other resinous compounds. These prior treatments render the cloth non-porous and induce sweating ofthe feet of the wearer which is undesirable. Also, it is difficult to launder such non-porous sole structures.

For further comprehension of the invention, and of the objects and advantages thereof, reference will be had to the following description and accompanying drawings, and to the appended claim in which the various novel features of the invention are more particularly set forth.

In the accompanying drawings forming a material part of this disclosure:

' Fig. 1 is an elevational view of a sleeping garment embodying the invention.

` Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional View of one leg of the garment taken on line 2 2 of Fig. l.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view on an enlarged scale taken on line 3 3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 showing another form of the invention.

Referring to Fig. l, there is shown a sleeping garment 10 of the general character mentioned above. The garment is made of a napped knitted fabric, flannel, or the like. It includes a front flap 11 with a snap fastener closure 12 at the throat. The front of the garment is provided with a slide fastener 14 fwhich extends downwardly yand turns obliquely away from the crotch 15 to terminate on one leg 17. Portions of the adjoining fabric edges are turned back on leg 17 to expose the slider handle 16 and terminus of the slide fastener teeth in engagement with each other. The arms y18 of the garment may have elastic knit cuffs 20 to enclose snugly the wrists of the wearer.

The foot enclosures 30 of the garment each includes a sole piece 22 as best shown in Figs. 2 and 3. Thme sole pieces are made of porous fabric which may be the same as that of the remainder of the garment 10. Secured to the bottom of the sole pieces are small knobs 24 of natural rubber, vinyl or other resinous material. The knobs are fused to the fabric with wide spaced intervals of cloth separating the respective knobs. A binding tape 26 is secured by stitching 28 to the peripheries of sole section 22 and the upper of foot enclosure 30.

A cuff 32 is formed on each leg from the `fabric of the leg. The cuff is defined by two folds 34 and 36 and is secured at the lower and inner fold by stitching 38.

It will be noted that the folds of the cuff do not add to the inner bulk of the garment leg and that the feet of the wearer can thus t snugly into the uppers of the foot enclosures 30. At such time as the growth of the child wearer requires it, the stitching 38 can be removed to lengthen the legs 17.

In the embodiment of the invention shown in Fig. 4, a longitudinally stretchable elasticized ribbed section 40 is provided at the ankle of the leg. This section is a cylindrical member which joins the lower end of the leg with the separate foot enclosure 30a. Section 40 is joined by stitching 42 and 44 to the leg and foot, respectively. The upper and lower folds 34, 36, respectively, are formed in the foot enclosure 30a to define the cuff or pleat 32. Normally this elastic section 40 will be invisible since it will be covered by cuff 32 until such time as growth of the child wearer makes it necessary to remove stitching 38 for lengthening the legs of the garment.

The soles of the feet 30 and 30a are each provided with the knobs 24. As a result, the feet of the wearer are warmly enclosed in a slippage inhibiting foot enclosure. Due to the structure of the sole enclosures, the child need not Wear slippers thereover.

While we have illustrated and described the preferred embodiments of our invention, it is to be understood that we do not limit ourselves to the precise constructions herein disclosed and that various changes and modifications may be made within the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claim.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire to secure by United States Letters Patent is:

In a fabric sleeping garment of the type having legs terminating in foot enclosures each consisting of a sole piece and an upper, said sole piece having a floor-engaging portion, means joining the peripheries of the sole piece and the upper, a tubular elasticized ankle section joined at one end to the upper and at the other end to the extremity of the garment leg and resiliently yielding to growth in the direction of length of the leg of the wearer, and an endless cui formed by upper and lower folds of the foot enclosure below said ankle section, said cuff being secured by removable stitching to accommodate the length of the leg of the garment to the continued growth in the length of the leg of the wearer, the bottom of said sole piece having a plurality of spaced slippage resisting resinous projections thereon, said cuit normally surrounding and concealing said elasticized ankle section.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNlTED STATES PATENTS 2,074,331 Haider Mar. 23, 1937 2,589,636 Smith Mar. 18, 1952 2,602,163 Davenport July 8, 1952 2,670,471 Kaufman Mar. 2, 1954 2,705,804 Walker Apr. 12, 1955 2,725,567 Bevier Dec. 6, 1955 

